Like I said i think the merits of who they are and aren’t allowed to make medallions for is dependent on who is the least likely to blow everyone’s cover. Nemeans might be able to co-exist in an avalon with other mythicals who can take a punch, but the first time anyone forgets their strength (or gets pissed enough) and puts a human through a wall the cover is blown.

The Sphinx Leaders are elitist arseholes.
It would seem however, that there are Sphinxes who are not so fussed with the Attitude of the Sphinx Leaders. And some are at the point of going out and breaking the restrictions.

I don’t think anything has appeared in the comic to prove that they are. There is a fine line between ensuring survival and making reasonable provisions and being an elitist asshole. also if I recall right it was the Manticores who had the terrible reputation not the Nimean lions so hopefully there will be a clarification of why.

I’m not saying I believe that they are elitist assholes, it’s just that the way Jocasta said “We can do whatever we want Worset. Were Sphinxes.” leads me to not having hope that my previous theory about them would be proven wrong.

I described the Sphinx Leaders as elitist arseholes, based upon Wosret’s CYA of the Sphinx Leaders knocking back entire species from having the safety of Medallions simply based upon their opinions of the species.
I wasn’t calling either Wosret or Jocasta elitist arseholes.

So I was right! which species do and don’t get medallions are based on which ones are the least likely to blow their cover! I guess it makes sense considering all of the sentient species without medallions we’ve seen thus far are predatory, and are specifically known for preying on humans, which increases the odds of attentions being drawn to them. Plus.. You know…. for the hopes of open co-existence sometime in the future

Given that Jocasta calls it the human scourge, I’d guess she’s more focused on the current issue tho.

Going by the disagreement between Wosret and Jocasta on the matter, I would venture to say that the Sphinx Leaders do not give the individual Medallion smiths any leeway at all. So I think Jocasta is about to seriously DO an F-U to the restrictions laid down by the Sphinx Leaders.
To quote Nanny Ogg from Discworld “When you break rules, break ‘em good and hard…”

I honestly think it’s less ‘which ones will blow our cover’ and more the predisposition toward mythological racism. (The argument is also moot when you consider that any individual of any species would be more or less likely than the next to be stupid about it; Phineas here seems like a poor candidate for a medallion, even if gryphons as a whole are arbitrarily considered ‘safe’.)

While most of the monster species we’ve seen so far all have bad reputations (manticores are poisonous, chew through anything, and have ‘notoriously’ bad tempers; harpies preyed on sailors and led them close to devour them; gorgons turn people to stone because Medusa was just plain ol’ evil; the dragons are jealous and dangerous, but the Bloodcarver clearly took no joy in his work with the demons and had no desire to harm Michelle as ‘an innocent’), this is only in terms of mythology. All of the individuals we’ve seen of these species have been just as human as anybody else, and one would assume that, if they had a proclivity toward ‘monstrousness’, it would only have gotten worse with time and discrimination, not better.

This is evident in Jocasta’s attitude, too; while she’s clearly more open to the idea of distributing medallions to anybody who needs them, she expresses the same racial arrogance. “We can do whatever we want, Wosret. We’re sphinxes.” She’s using this attitude as an excuse to ignore the racist policies of the sphinx elders, but it’s just as self-absorbed as them; I can break the rules because I’m a sphinx. We can decide, effectively, who lives and who dies because we are sphinxes.

Little wonder the dragons got fed up with the situation. I’m willing to bet they weren’t the only ones involved on that side of the Great War, either– they just have the dubious honor of being the ones that were wiped out.

I knew a lady who had hip-length hair that she braided similarly to Jocasta’s. The actual braiding went pretty quickly — about 15-20 minutes per side. It was the brushing and combing that took the most time — about an hour, double that when she washed it. (About every other week.)

On another note, it’s so nice to see things being revealed and theories proven right and wrong. Interesting to think that such a simple choice of ‘who is dangerous enough to not be given a medallion’ would lead to so much prejudice later on; and the fact that Jocasta will (seemingly) risk her position to provide safety to others even against the will of the elders is an interesting one as well.

The Attitude and resulting actions by the Sphinx leaders also makes another possibility for the Great War.
The Dragons deciding that if the Sphinx Leaders will not let EVERYONE have the safety of Medallions, then NO-ONE will have that safety.

Oh the rebel!
Which means that Phiny must not have known any Harpies. My one niggling lore hope. Dragons I guess were lumped in with the dangerous. So who are these Sphinxian elders and could they still be alive? Just who is the Mistress? Could it be a power-mad Jocasta, still alive?

Phineas was concerned about his Nemean friend. Not Nemeans in general. So I strongly suspect that Harpies would, in this matter, be lumped in with other species in general that Phineas is not worried about.

It’s possible that Michelle may learn how to make medallions out of this. If she does learn (it seems likely, but remains to be proven), she could presumably start making medallions for anyone she wants.

Anyone can get their medallions revoked (temporarily or permanently) due to violent behavior. It’s just that Jonathan “Merry” Merryweather Lyon proves the Sphinx elders’ point. Remy and Lorne are obviously proof that the elders are “tarring every Nemean with the same brush”, so to speak. That is to say, SOME Nemeans are volatile, but definitely not all of them.

Well, if my former co-worker Chris has let his hair continue to grow, then by now he’d have silky smooth hair all the way to his feet. Last time I saw him, 15 years ago, it was down to his waist.

But somehow, I doubt the university would allow him to do that, even if he wanted to. (He works in the Computing, Telecommunications, and Information Systems department, aka CTIS, for Texas A&M-Commerce.)